“As a result of the uniformity of rice food over several decades, the Mentawai people have lost their food independence. "Instead of providing food security, the land mismatch and low accessibility of the Mentawai people to rice actually creates food vulnerability for them."
Have you ever thought that a form of colonialism also existed in the form of food uniformity? Referred to as gastrocolonialism, food colonialism was first introduced by Craig Santoz Perez while studying the food problem in Hawaii which was being eroded by imports of low quality processed food from multinational companies. This situation can be seen from the shift in food patterns from wild game, fish, tubers, vegetables and fruit that are rich in nutrients to foods that are high in sodium and sugar, such as rice, biscuits and fizzy drinks.
In the Mentawai Islands, gastrocolonialism can be seen from the shift in people's food patterns from sago to rice. In Mentawai, this change in staple food consumption patterns is called kineiget mukop bera'. Bera' is the name for rice for the Mentawai people, which in Minangkabau language means 'human waste'. For centuries, sago as an endemic food has become a food tradition for the Mentawai people.
Without rice, this food succeeded in meeting carbohydrate needs and kept the Mentawai people away from famine. For each uma (clan), the presence of sago is a symbol of a tribe's food security. Because, one stalk of sago can support one uma for a whole month. Not only is it useful as an antidote to hunger, sago is interpreted by the Mentawai people as a plant with high value. Sago is the cultural basis for the local Arat Sabulungan religious belief.
The Mentawai people have a long history with sago, from mythology to its function in traditional rituals. If a couple wants to get married, the man must prepare a mone (field) that has been planted with sago, durian trees, taro, and several other plants with an agreed field area. It is also used as alattoga (dowry). Sago is also used as an offering to ancestors during punen (traditional ceremonies). In this ritual, sago is generally processed into lime, which is sago wrapped in sago leaves and burned.
For a long time, the Mentawai people have been the target of development program missions, starting from the eradication of the practice of Arat Sabulungan by burning religious facilities and prohibiting body tattoos, the formation of village governments, to the resettlement of isolated communities, and forest exploitation. The intervention in the Mentawai community did not stop there. The rice self-sufficiency program launched by the New Order government to meet the country's food needs is also exploring Bumi Sikerei.
Along with the progress of the resettlement program, the New Order government also introduced a rice field printing program. In that era, the uniformization of rice as a staple food was present at the national level with the hope of being able to achieve national food security, spur economic growth, and increase farmers' income. On this basis, the community was ordered to plant rice through the community development movement. If they refused, they would be considered affiliates of the Indonesian Communist Party, which at that time was labeled a traitor by the government.
This situation creates dependency among the Mentawai people on rice consumption. The paddy field printing program has caused people to lose their sago fields. Those who were previously able to meet their food needs are now threatened with food insecurity. The main factor is that the price of rice is more expensive than sago. When a storm occurs, rice prices experience a significant spike on the island, making it less affordable for households.
The unsuitability of land for planting rice is also another factor. So the rice fields often fail. In 2021, rice production will only be 1,005 tons. In fact, the need for rice that year reached 9,678 tons. This amount is only sufficient for approximately 10,38% of annual needs. This means that most of the rice must be supplied from areas outside Mentawai.
In addition, negative labeling from the government and outsiders towards the Mentawai people as a primitive group also contributed to the shift in their consumption patterns. Many people view the process of making sago by trampling it with their feet as dirty. This situation makes the Mentawai people no longer confident about sticking to sago, so consuming rice has become a choice to be considered modern.
However, a different situation is faced by Teresia, 45 years old, a resident of Muntei Village, South Siberut District, who still considers sago as important as rice. He said that there was no significant difference regarding the change in diet, "I have been eating sago for four or five years, made soft. Both are delicious because I'm used to both."
Even though he and his family are used to processed rice as a daily source of carbohydrates, he has no problem facing a rice shortage. Because sago is still an option for his family. Sometimes, he still processes sago for consumption without having to wait for a party.
“If the ship breaks up, you have to stock up for a month, two months. But I won't starve because there is sago. After breaking up the ship for three months, I can cut sago in the fields," he explained.
As a result of the community's dependence on rice, since 1998 the Mentawai Islands Regency government has imported rice for poor households (RASKIN) from Padang with poor quality. RASKIN distribution was then no longer intended for emergency programs, but as part of the community social protection program.
It didn't stop there, the Mentawai Regency government also launched a program to print rice fields covering an area of 1,000 hectares during the 2011-2016 period. In order to make this program a success, they provided assistance and assistance with seeds, machetes, hoes, and even operational money. However, the achievements of the rice field printing program were only around 300-400 hectares of rice fields. While the rest is left unexplored.
“There used to be lots of rice fields here. But now it's no longer there because the rice fields have become people's homes." Said Yanto, an indigenous community in Munte village
Printing rice fields that is carried out repeatedly creates social changes in Mentawai society. Originally, processing sago was a tradition for family members to build togetherness. Since the rice field printing was implemented, the government created new communities in society called farmer groups. This situation causes relations between uma members to strain.
The shift in consumption patterns of the Mentawai people from sago to rice has also shifted their traditional economic institutions. So far, people have lived by utilizing fields and natural products for their daily needs to meet their long-term needs.
Gastrocolonialism through food intervention which tries to replace sago with rice as the staple food in Mentawai has created a burden on the community. Land unsuitability, farmers' lack of education, and low affordability of rice have created a large dependence on supplies from mainland Sumatra.
The government should be aware that food independence will not be created from food colonization which is biased towards rice. Reflecting on similar programs in the past, being forced to continue producing unsustainable rice fields will only make them increasingly less sovereign over their own land. Thus, food independence in Mentawai needs to be directed at local food availability and based on local potential.
*Reference:
Chao, S. (2022). Gastrocolonialism: the intersections of race, food, and development in West Papua. The International Journal of Human Rights, 26(5), 811-832.
Erwin. (2017). Household and Regional Resilience Based on Local Food Sago, Taro and Banana in Mentawai Islands Regency. National Seminar on Urban Village Inclusive Development Planning. Andalas University.
Grey, S. & Patel, R. (2015). Food sovereignty as decolonization: some contributions from indigenous movements to food system and development politics. Springer: The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society, 32(3), 431-444.
Nugroho, WB (2018). Social Construction of the Green Revolution in the New Order Era. Socio-Economics of Agriculture and Agribusiness, 12(1), 55-62.
Rudito, B. (2013). Bebetei Uma The Awakening of the Mentawai People: An Ethnography. Yogyakarta: Gading and Indonesia Center for Sustainable Development (ICSD).
*Written by: Diana Mayasari, Estungkara Internship Student, FISIPOL UGM 2023
